Pancocojams showcases the music, dances, language practices, and customs of African Americans and of other people of Black descent throughout the world.

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Saturday, July 26, 2014

The REAL Meanings Of "The Breaks" In Kurtis Blow's Rap

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part IV of a five part series that showcases three African American songs and one Caribbean song that have a "that's life" theme. By "that's life themes" I mean songs which reflect and promote the value that some Black people and some non-Black people have of being stoic when bad things happen to them.

Part IV showcases Kurtis Blow's 1980's record "The Breaks" and provides explanations for the various meanings of "the breaks" and other lines including the word "break" that are found in this rap.

Those showcased songs are only a sampling of what I call "that's life" songs.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thank to the composer/s of this featured song and thanks to Kuris Blow for his musical legacy. Thanks also to also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this example on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT KURIS BLOWhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurtis_Blow
"Kurt Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer.[1] He is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song."...

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Kurtis Blow-The Breaks

rekoj1376, Uploaded on Aug 31, 2009

Clap your hands everybody
If you got what it takes
'Cause I'm Kurtis Blow and I want you to know
That these are the breaks

Breaks on a bus brakes on a car
Breaks to make you a superstar
Breaks to win and breaks to lose
But these here breaks will rock your shoes
And these are the breaks
Break it up, break it up, break it up!

If your woman steps out with another man
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
And she runs off with him to Japan
And the IRS says they want to chat
And you can't explain why you claimed your cat
And Ma Bell sends you a whopping bill
With eighteen phone calls to Brazil
And you borrowed money from the mob
And yesterday you lost your job
Well, these are the breaks
Break it up, break it up, break it up

Throw your hands up in the sky
And wave 'em 'round from side to side
And if you deserve a break tonight
Somebody say alright! (All right)
Say ho-oo! (Ho-oo!)
And you don't stop
Keep on, somebody scream!( Owwwww!)
Break down!

Breaks on a stage, breaks on a screen
Breaks to make your wallet lean
Breaks run cold and breaks run hot
Some folks got 'em and some have not
But these are the breaks
Break it up, break it up, break it up!
Break down!

To the girl in brown, stop messing around
(Break it up, break it up)
To the guy in blue, whatcha gonna do?
(Break it up, break it up)
To the girl in green, don't be so mean
(Break it up, break it up)
And the guy in red, say what I said
(Break it up, break it up)
Break down!

Brakes on a plane, brakes on a train
Breaks to make you go insane
Breaks in love, breaks in war
But we got the breaks to get you on the floor
And these are the breaks
Break it up, break it up, break it up!
Break down! Yo!

Just do it, just do it, just do it, do it, do it!
Just do it, just do it, just do it, do it, do it!
Just do it, just do it, just do it, do it, do it!
Just do it, just do it, just do it, do it, do it!

You say last week you met the perfect guy
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
And he promised you the stars in the sky
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
He said his Cadilac was gold
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
But he didn't say it was ten years old
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
He took you out to the Red Coach grill
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
But he forgot the cash and you paid the bill
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
And he told you the story of his life
(That's the breaks, that's the breaks)
But he forgot the part about...his wife!
(That's the breaks, Huh! Huh! that's the breaks)
Well, these are the breaks!
Break it up, break it up, break it up!
Break down!

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COMMENTS ABOUT "THE BREAKS"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breaks
"The Breaks" is a critically acclaimed 1980 hit single by Kurtis Blow from his self-titled debut album. It was one of the earliest hip-hop hits hitting its peak at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart....

"The Breaks" repeats the word "break" (or any of its homophones) eighty-four times over six and a half minutes.

There are six breakdowns (seven including the outro) in "The Breaks".
There are no fewer than three definitions for "break," "to break" or "brakes" used in "The Breaks"...

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ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF "BREAK/S" IN THE RAP "THESE ARE THE BREAKS"
Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" is a great example of word play in Hip-Hop compositions. In that rap, the word break (including the word "brake" which sounds like it) is used as a verb, a noun, an injunction, and as part of idioms.

Here's my explanations of the meaning of that rap's lines that include the word "break/s" or "brake". Notice that sometimes the particular use of "breaks" or "break" with another word or words" could have been intended to have more than one possible meaning. [These examples are numbered for reference purposes only.] Additions and corrections are welcome.

1. ["I want you to know that] these are the breaks" - [I want you to know that] I'm going to share multiple meanings of "the breaks"

2. "Brakes on a plane, brakes on a train", "Breaks on a bus brakes on a car"- referring to a part of a vehicle that stops the vehicle from moving

6. Break it up break it up break it up! - dance/play music with lots of intensity

7. "that's the breaks" [in the verse beginning with "If your woman steps out with another man" and elsewhere in this verse and this rap - an idiom that means "That's life" ; It be's that way sometimes", said when things happen to you.]

8."(Owwwww!) Break down!" -do your best dance moves(This is a play on the Hip-Hop dance "breakdown")

9. "Breaks on a stage, breaks on a screen" - a pause in the action

10. "Breaks to make your wallet lean" - difficult situations that force you to spend money

11. "Breaks run cold and breaks run hot" - a play on the word "brakes" [Read #2 explanation]

12. "Some folks got 'em and some have not" - an allusion to the phrase "lucky breaks"

13. "To the girl in brown, stop messing around (Break it up, break it up)"- both "stop messing around" and "break it up" could mean "stop arguing and fighting" or those lyrics could mean "stop dancing half-heartedly; dance with more intensity."

14. "Breaks to make you go insane" - percussive music [read #13] ; "insane" here means that the breaks are very good (the same way that "sick" means "very good").

15. "Breaks in love"- ending or pause in love (a play on the word "breakups")

12. "breaks in war" - pause in a war, or a period of time when there are no wars

13. "we got the breaks to get you on the floor" - percussive music; "In DJ parlance, a break is where all elements of a song (e.g., pads, basslines, vocals), except for percussion, disappear for a time." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_(music)

14. "You say last week you met the perfect guy" (That's the breaks, that's the breaks)- these lines and the other lines in this verse use the "that's life"; "it be's that way sometime" meanings (an attitude and stance that indicates that a person isn't bothered [harmed] by the bad things that have happened to him or her)

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I'm an African American mother, grandmother, & retired human services administrator. For more than forty years I have shared adapted West African stories with audiences in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.
I have four blogspots: pancocojams, zumalayah, cocojams2, and .Civil Rights Songs. Much of the content of these blogs were previously found on my cocojams and jambalayah cultural websites. I curate all of these blogs on a voluntary basis.
Each of these blogs have the primary goal of raising awareness about cultural aspects of African American culture and of other Black cultures throughout the world, particularly in regards to music & dance traditions.
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